Traditional Chinese Medicine and European Union Law: Cultural Logics, Product Identities, Market Competition, Legal Rechanneling, and the Need for Global Legal and Medical Pluralism

Abstract

This article explores the European Union (EU) regulatory regime for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and its legal, cultural, economic, and international trade implications. It focuses particularly on the controversial Directive on Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products (THMPD), which amended the European Community Code for medicinal products in 2004, with effect as of 2011. The Community Code as amended set new standards for imports of herbal medicines, which previously had been exported from China mainly as food, food supplements or other products. The article analyses the new EU regime and evaluates it in the light of (a) the EU's policy objectives, (b) the implications for Chinese TCM producers and exporters, (c) the role of law in rechanneling market competition and (d) the ethics of social solidarity and pluralism. It concludes that the EU regulatory regime for TCM falls short on all counts. On the basis of this critical evaluation, the article calls for greater medical and legal pluralism, stresses the need for increased participation of other countries in EU decision-making about medicines, and identifies priorities for further research.